Ben Fiechtner: 12-Week Step-by-Step Framework to Crush Every Sales Quarter | E1185
02 Aug 2024 (2 months ago)
Intro
- Ben Fiechtner discusses a framework for sales success that focuses on four key aspects: create, convert, close, and churn.
- He emphasizes that salespeople are not lazy, but rather efficient in finding the quickest path to achieve their goals.
- Harry expresses excitement and nervousness about the conversation, acknowledging that he has heard interesting stories about Ben.
The T-Shirt Business in College
- Ben Fiechtner started a t-shirt company in college with his friend Troy Vos. They were inspired by the trend of rappers getting into apparel and the popularity of Wisconsin pride. They trademarked the word "Scan," which is a Wisconsin slang term for someone who is proud of their state.
- They invested $300 each and sold out of t-shirts in two days. They then set up an e-commerce website and started a wholesale business. The business was very successful, and they even sold their first big t-shirt deal to the University of Wisconsin bookstore.
- This experience led Ben to realize that he loved sales and that it was a better fit for him than his initial career aspirations of politics or law. The business was successful for four years, building brand notoriety and generating a lot of buzz through guerilla marketing.
- Troy eventually bought out Ben's shares, but they remain friends to this day. The business is still running today, and Troy continues to run it.
Discovering a Love for Sales
- Ben Fiechtner initially envisioned a career in politics or law, but a dinner with a lawyer who questioned his earnings from selling t-shirts made him realize that he could make more money and work fewer hours in sales.
- Fiechtner discovered a passion for sales through his experience winning a deal with a University Bookstore. He enjoyed the process of convincing the bookstore to see his point of view and adopt a new approach to marketing, which ultimately led to a successful outcome.
- The thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline rush of winning, and the ability to convince others were the key elements that made Fiechtner realize he was destined to be a salesperson.
Key Lessons in Persuading Customers
- The key to persuading customers is to show up with a strong opinion and a unique solution to their problems. This means doing your homework, understanding their business, and presenting a clear perspective on how your product or service can help them achieve their goals.
- Instead of focusing on the features and functions of your product, emphasize how it can solve the customer's specific challenges. This approach is more effective than simply promoting the product's capabilities.
- By demonstrating a deep understanding of the customer's business and offering a tailored solution, you increase your chances of being taken seriously and having a seat at the table. This approach is particularly important in today's market, where customers are looking for solutions that address their specific needs rather than simply buying technology for technology's sake.
The Skills Behind Effective Deal Construction
- Effective deal construction involves understanding both the client's constraints and the levers available internally. This means understanding the client's budget, operating expenses, cash flow, and other financial considerations, as well as the company's own pricing flexibility, service start date, contract length, and terms and conditions.
- The key is to find a win-win situation by threading the needle between these constraints and levers. This can be achieved by asking the right questions to understand the client's needs and then presenting options that address those needs while also maximizing the company's revenue.
- Creativity is essential in deal construction. This involves thinking outside the box to find solutions that meet both the client's and the company's needs. For example, a company might offer a discount on the price in exchange for a longer contract term or a faster service start date.
Strategies for Effective Pricing & Discounting
- Pricing and Discounting: Ben Fiechtner believes in empowering sales teams to own pricing. He encourages them to justify discounts based on client success and long-term value, while staying within reasonable guidelines. He emphasizes the importance of creative deal construction to secure long-term contracts, even if it means offering unconventional payment terms.
- Creating Urgency: Fiechtner suggests focusing on solving a client's "burning platform" issue to create urgency. He also emphasizes building personal connections with the buyer and championing their success, which can motivate them to push for a quick decision.
- Multiple Champions: Fiechtner acknowledges the challenge of involving multiple stakeholders in a sales process. He recommends being transparent about the need to connect with other decision-makers, emphasizing the importance of understanding their constraints and ensuring a smooth process for everyone involved.
- Payment Terms: Fiechtner advises caution when offering deferred payment terms, as it can lead to financial difficulties for the company. He notes that with rising interest rates, companies are becoming more cautious with cash flow and are less likely to offer flexible payment options.
- Tech Spending: Fiechtner observes that CFOs are not necessarily reducing tech spending, but rather shifting their focus to consolidating platforms and investing in solutions that offer proven ROI. He believes that companies are prioritizing platforms that demonstrate tangible improvements in bottom-line results, rather than simply being "shiny objects."
Accurate Forecasting in Volatile Times
- Accurate forecasting in volatile times is crucial for businesses. The traditional approach of simply adding a percentage to the previous quarter's results is no longer reliable.
- Simplifying the forecasting process is key. Salespeople are motivated to find the quickest path to success, so the process should be straightforward and easy to understand.
- A structured 13-week revenue cadence is essential. This involves breaking down the quarter into four segments and having everyone look at the same data, such as slip deal reviews, deal backlog, and commitments. This ensures everyone is on the same page and allows senior leaders to identify areas needing attention.
- Week one of the 13-week cadence focuses on slip deal reviews. This involves analyzing deals that were expected to close but didn't, helping to identify potential opportunities to increase the forecast.
Good vs. Bad Reasons for a Slipped Deal
- Good vs. Bad Reasons for Slipped Deals: Ben Fiechtner believes there are no truly "good" reasons for a deal to slip, but some are less bad than others. A good reason might be that a deal was pulled forward from the next quarter, meaning it wasn't ready to close in the current quarter. However, he emphasizes that sales is a profession where things can go wrong despite best efforts.
- Sales Leader's Role in Forecasting: Sales leaders should be realistic about their team's forecast and not just accept optimistic projections. While pushing for higher numbers is expected, it's important to be grounded in reality and not rely on overly optimistic stories. The best sales leaders are honest about the state of the business and use data to inform their decisions.
- Proactive Renewal Management: In week one of a new quarter, it's crucial to analyze upcoming renewals and identify potential risks. This involves looking at customer adoption and usage data, contract amounts, and prioritizing discussions with customers who have low adoption and large contracts. This proactive approach helps prevent surprises later in the quarter.
- Pipeline Coverage and Conversion: Week one also involves assessing overall pipeline coverage based on historical conversion rates. This helps determine if there's enough potential to meet the forecast. Tools like predictive forecasting can provide insights into the likelihood of closing deals based on current pipeline stage.
Leveraging Teamwork to Close Deals
- Building a strong foundation for teamwork is crucial. Ben emphasizes that effective teamwork in sales requires a pre-existing foundation of trust and open communication across different departments. He believes that a CRO's role is to act as a glue, fostering strong relationships between sales, product, marketing, and the CEO. This allows for a natural flow of support and collaboration when needed for specific deals.
- Avoid the "16 people in the room" scenario. Ben highlights the importance of a cohesive team approach, contrasting the ineffective "sales circus" with a smaller, more focused team that can seamlessly interchange roles and support each other.
- Proactive research and understanding are key. When a deal slips to the next quarter, Ben suggests digging deeper to understand the reasons behind the delay. He emphasizes the importance of identifying the decision-maker, their decision criteria, and the compelling event that triggered the purchase. This proactive approach helps determine if the sales team truly did their homework or simply relied on a champion without internal support.
- Sales methodologies are valuable tools. Ben believes that established sales methodologies are effective because they encourage thorough research and the right questions. By following these frameworks, sales teams can increase their chances of success.
The Biggest Reasons Why Deals Don’t Close
- The biggest reason deals don't close is a lack of understanding of the client's buying process.
- This is especially true for deals that seem likely to close but ultimately fall through, as these often indicate a process problem rather than a lack of interest.
- The most painful deals to lose are those that are committed, as they often highlight a failure to understand the buyer's internal processes and how they make decisions.
Enhancing Sales & CS Collaboration to Reduce Churn
- The chapter emphasizes the crucial role of collaboration between sales and customer success (CS) teams in reducing churn.
- It highlights the common issue of a poor handoff between sales and CS, where sales focuses on closing deals without adequately considering the customer's journey and implementation needs.
- The solution lies in a thorough and outcome-based sales process that maps out the customer's journey, understands their business impact and complexity, and ensures a smooth transition to CS. This approach allows CS to seamlessly pick up where sales left off, leading to higher adoption rates and reduced churn.
Transitioning from Small Commercial to Large Enterprise Deals
- Transitioning from smaller commercial deals to larger Enterprise deals requires a shift in mindset. Ben Fiechtner, who transitioned from a commercial AE to a global account manager at Salesforce, emphasizes treating large Enterprise accounts as a collection of smaller commercial accounts. This means understanding the individual needs and challenges of different departments within the organization and providing tailored solutions.
- Resource allocation becomes more complex in Enterprise sales. While the core sales process remains similar, the complexity of Enterprise deals necessitates more resources, including dedicated sales enablement, to manage the increased number of internal and external stakeholders.
- Sales enablement should be tailored to the specific needs of the company. Fiechtner advocates for a micro-moment approach to sales enablement, focusing on providing targeted feedback and support to individual sales reps rather than relying solely on large-scale training sessions. This approach is particularly relevant for startups, where close collaboration and frequent communication can foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
- Startups should carefully consider their product-market fit before pursuing Enterprise deals. While Enterprise deals offer the potential for higher revenue, startups should prioritize their core product and target customers who represent the best fit for their solution. Fiechtner suggests that startups can test the waters with Enterprise deals without making a significant company-wide shift, allowing them to assess the feasibility and potential impact of this strategy.
Verticalization: Why, When & How
- Verticalization is crucial for sales success: Verticalization, or focusing on specific industries or customer segments, can significantly boost sales speed and brand building. It allows companies to create a tighter community and tailor their messaging to resonate with specific customer needs.
- Understanding customer language is key: Companies should speak the language of their clients, understanding their unique problems and how they can uniquely solve them. This requires tailoring messaging and product features to address specific industry challenges.
- Verticalization requires investment but yields significant returns: While verticalization requires initial investment, it can lead to exponential growth and resilience in challenging economic conditions. Companies with strong vertical strategies are better positioned to navigate market fluctuations and achieve success.
Hiring Process
- Hiring Process: Ben Fiechtner emphasizes the importance of hiring the right people to execute a successful sales strategy. He believes in evaluating candidates based on three key factors: attitude, aptitude, and authenticity.
- Attitude: He prioritizes a growth mindset and self-awareness in candidates. He suggests asking the question, "What's the number one reason you haven't had more success?" to gauge their self-reflection and willingness to learn. He also looks for curiosity and a proactive approach to challenges, rather than seeking a perfect environment.
- Aptitude: He values intellectual curiosity and the ability to ask insightful questions during the interview process. He encourages candidates to ask questions that genuinely reflect their concerns and interests, rather than relying on generic inquiries. He believes that candidates should demonstrate a genuine interest in the company, its products, and its customers.
The Subtle Skill That Boosted Ben’s Success
- Ben Fiechtner identifies two key motivators that have contributed to his success: a fear of failure and a desire to avoid letting people down.
- Early in his career, Ben was intensely driven by a fear of failure, pushing himself to the limit to avoid losing in any situation, even in casual activities like bike races or ping pong.
- He also acknowledges a strong desire to avoid disappointing others, which he believes has helped him become a good leader and ensure that clients have positive experiences.
Authenticity vs. Tough Decisions: Strength & Weakness
- Authenticity vs. Tough Decisions: Ben acknowledges that his biggest strength, authenticity and kindness, can also be a weakness. He recognizes that his desire to be kind can sometimes lead to delaying difficult decisions and struggling with direct feedback. He emphasizes that he has worked on being more direct and providing clear feedback, even if it's not always easy.
- Interview Process: Ben discusses the importance of preparation in the interview process. He believes that role-playing can be counterproductive and prefers a more realistic approach where candidates present an account plan or executive point of view. He emphasizes that candidates should be able to develop a strong, unique executive point of view that drives value for the client.
- Common Reasons for Interview Failure: Ben believes that unpreparedness is the most common reason for candidates failing in the interview process. He stresses the importance of showing up prepared and having a unique point of view, even for interviews that may not be for a job the candidate is particularly interested in.
- Authenticity in Sales: Ben believes that authenticity is crucial in sales. He emphasizes that being genuine and vulnerable is more effective than trying to be a "performative salesperson." He believes that people connect with those who are authentically themselves.
- Comp Plan Design: Ben emphasizes the importance of designing a comp plan that aligns with the overall go-to-market strategy. He believes that comp plans should be designed after the go-to-market strategy is established, rather than being a small tweak on the previous year's plan.
- Hunter-Farmer Conflict: Ben acknowledges the potential for conflict between Hunter and Farmer sales roles. He believes that choosing segments intelligently and ensuring that the right people are in the right roles can help mitigate this conflict. He also emphasizes the importance of overstaffing key accounts to ensure that there is enough capacity to win them.
Quick-Fire Round
- Sales tactics that have died a death: Ben believes that the "pricing expires at the end of the month/quarter" tactic is no longer effective. He also questions the relevance of large corporate events like golf days and box seats at concerts for sales.
- Biggest lesson from UiPath: Ben learned the importance of aligning sales team structure with product-market fit. He emphasizes that companies should not be afraid to focus on specific verticals where their product offers a strong solution.
- Reasons CRs and heads of sales fail: Ben believes that many CRs and heads of sales try to implement pre-existing playbooks instead of tailoring their approach to the specific needs of the company and sales team. He stresses the importance of listening and adapting.
- Biggest lesson learned in sales: Ben advises aspiring salespeople to be authentically themselves and play to their strengths rather than trying to emulate others. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and finding your unique selling style.
- Secret to a happy marriage: Ben believes that authenticity and open communication are key to a successful marriage. He also emphasizes the importance of prioritizing your spouse and family, just as you would prioritize your work.
- Balancing work and family: Ben acknowledges the challenges of balancing a demanding career with family life. He shares his own experience of prioritizing his personal life more in recent years and encourages others to do the same. He also highlights the flexibility that sales roles can offer in terms of managing your own schedule.